COMMUNITY TRUSTAs part of the implementation, the Maasai community will have been paid Sh300 million to secure land rights prior to the start of the project. This is in flagrant disregard of the reality that no conservation project can succeed without the support of the host community. HUMAN RIGHTSThere is therefore an urgent need for the environmentalists to acknowledge the need to balance vulture conservation and the socio-economic rights of the Maasai. CONSERVATIONIt is important that the efforts of bird conservation groups are informed by their commitments under international human rights norms on indigenous peoples. Any approach that ignores the views of the historically marginalised Kipeto Maasai is more likely to lead to the disappearance rather than preservation of the vultures.

Source: Daily Nation May 27, 2017 19:07 UTC